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The Trent Richardson Thread (2 Viewers)

http://www.19actionnews.com/category/240218/video-landing-page

seems like a good kid

finding out on the radio is not cool, not cool at all

very classless
Did you expect anything less from the front office and organization he even only got a text message from the Coach? Chud is living up to his name for sure, not very good coach or man it looks like. Seems to be out of place in Cleveland, Trent had too much class. Well done Trent, well done.

 
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At this point they should lose every game right?

they clearly punted the season, everyone knows it

why half ### the lost season by winning

i do understand the players on the field will still try and win, it is what they do

but the organization should clearly be looking to lose
They may very well be looking to lose, and clearly traded for the future at the expense of this season.

But how much worse does this really make them?

That offense was in the bottom 3rd of the league in every meaningful category last year. They have been even worse than that this year.

24 hours ago, CLE was a team that couldn't run the ball or the throw the ball very well. They won 5 games last year. In those 5 wins, Richardson was the leading rusher on the team in only 3 of them. He rushed for 122, 85, and 72 in those 3 wins.

Anyway, Richardson's a fine back, but I really don't think there's as strong case that losing Richardson dramatically changes the course of this season for CLE. The bigger impact, imo, might be that they failed to put any depth getting touches behind their bell cow (a mistake that bad teams building around a B seem to make more often).
you think the switch from TRich to McGahee does not downgrade them? I disagree with that,
That's not what I said or what I think.

Just that, for a terrible offensive team that can't run the ball anyway, downgrading their RB probably may not dramatically change their season.
i think it does

this team has nothing, no direction, no talent, nothing

i thought they were better than the jags for sure before, now, not so much

and we'll have to see if the team can hold together, every guy in that locker room knows the organization just gave up on the season.

 
AND the players in that locker room saw how the browns did this too. I think this damages the team for sure

 
At this point they should lose every game right?

they clearly punted the season, everyone knows it

why half ### the lost season by winning

i do understand the players on the field will still try and win, it is what they do

but the organization should clearly be looking to lose
They may very well be looking to lose, and clearly traded for the future at the expense of this season.

But how much worse does this really make them?

That offense was in the bottom 3rd of the league in every meaningful category last year. They have been even worse than that this year.

24 hours ago, CLE was a team that couldn't run the ball or the throw the ball very well. They won 5 games last year. In those 5 wins, Richardson was the leading rusher on the team in only 3 of them. He rushed for 122, 85, and 72 in those 3 wins.

Anyway, Richardson's a fine back, but I really don't think there's as strong case that losing Richardson dramatically changes the course of this season for CLE. The bigger impact, imo, might be that they failed to put any depth getting touches behind their bell cow (a mistake that bad teams building around a B seem to make more often).
you think the switch from TRich to McGahee does not downgrade them? I disagree with that,
That's not what I said or what I think.

Just that, for a terrible offensive team that can't run the ball anyway, downgrading their RB probably may not dramatically change their season.
i think it doesthis team has nothing, no direction, no talent, nothing

i thought they were better than the jags for sure before, now, not so much

and we'll have to see if the team can hold together, every guy in that locker room knows the organization just gave up on the season.
I won't pretend to know how this plays in the locker room.

But I could see it going different ways.

Maybe they look at it as giving up on the season, who knows.

But there are a lot of locker room positives that could come from this. "Nobody believes in us" can be a very good thing.

Hell, maybe they didn't like fans thinking Trent was the only good player the team. Maybe they even appreciate the organization taking the stance that the team's success isn't tied to one player.

I have no idea, but I think it's premature to assume what the players think and how they'll react.

 
Just from looking soley at the #'s---Do people believe that McGahee CAN'T replicate those #'s this year?
Other GM's must think he can't since he has been sitting around eating :popcorn: waiting for the phone to ring..

Definitely will be a wait and see.. But if they decide to go with Hoyer at QB I think he better get as much upfront money as he can.

 
I always hear complaints about him not getting 3rd down looks, so I gotta wonder how he is on pass protection. Anybody have any insight into his abiility here? Obviously, it's important, b/c Bradshaw is one of the best in pass blocking.
Before the news came down yesterday, this was talked about on local radio. They stated that the reason he wasn't in on 3rd is because they didn't trust him as a pass-blocker.

 
At this point they should lose every game right?

they clearly punted the season, everyone knows it

why half ### the lost season by winning

i do understand the players on the field will still try and win, it is what they do

but the organization should clearly be looking to lose
They may very well be looking to lose, and clearly traded for the future at the expense of this season.

But how much worse does this really make them?

That offense was in the bottom 3rd of the league in every meaningful category last year. They have been even worse than that this year.

24 hours ago, CLE was a team that couldn't run the ball or the throw the ball very well. They won 5 games last year. In those 5 wins, Richardson was the leading rusher on the team in only 3 of them. He rushed for 122, 85, and 72 in those 3 wins.

Anyway, Richardson's a fine back, but I really don't think there's as strong case that losing Richardson dramatically changes the course of this season for CLE. The bigger impact, imo, might be that they failed to put any depth getting touches behind their bell cow (a mistake that bad teams building around a B seem to make more often).
you think the switch from TRich to McGahee does not downgrade them? I disagree with that,
That's not what I said or what I think.

Just that, for a terrible offensive team that can't run the ball anyway, downgrading their RB probably may not dramatically change their season.
i think it doesthis team has nothing, no direction, no talent, nothing

i thought they were better than the jags for sure before, now, not so much

and we'll have to see if the team can hold together, every guy in that locker room knows the organization just gave up on the season.
I won't pretend to know how this plays in the locker room.

But I could see it going different ways.

Maybe they look at it as giving up on the season, who knows.

But there are a lot of locker room positives that could come from this. "Nobody believes in us" can be a very good thing.

Hell, maybe they didn't like fans thinking Trent was the only good player the team. Maybe they even appreciate the organization taking the stance that the team's success isn't tied to one player.

I have no idea, but I think it's premature to assume what the players think and how they'll react.
nobody believed in them before

now they just know the front office does not believe in them

 
I always hear complaints about him not getting 3rd down looks, so I gotta wonder how he is on pass protection. Anybody have any insight into his abiility here? Obviously, it's important, b/c Bradshaw is one of the best in pass blocking.
Before the news came down yesterday, this was talked about on local radio. They stated that the reason he wasn't in on 3rd is because they didn't trust him as a pass-blocker.
That's pretty funny, because Trich didn't play third downs and Weeden was sacked five times. He also wasn't on the field when Weeden was rushed, threw it early, and clipped his thumb on a defensive player's helmet. That wasn't a sack, but it caused his injury (and now missing games).

Hmm... maybe Trich would have been a better option?

 
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That's pretty funny, because Trich didn't play third downs and Weeden was sacked five times. He also wasn't on the field when Weeden was rushed, threw it early, and clipped his thumb on a defensive player's helmet. That wasn't a sack, but it caused his injury (and now missing games).

Hmm... maybe Trich would have been a better option?
...or maybe Weeden would have been sacked 7 times. I don't know. Apparently the coaches felt better without him in there.

 
I always hear complaints about him not getting 3rd down looks, so I gotta wonder how he is on pass protection. Anybody have any insight into his abiility here? Obviously, it's important, b/c Bradshaw is one of the best in pass blocking.
I would think that Bradshaw is going to be the passing down back at least for the time being.

 
nobody believed in them before

now they just know the front office does not believe in them
Might be going a little overboard.

Players get traded. Other players still want to keep their job, and win.

 
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At this point they should lose every game right?

they clearly punted the season, everyone knows it

why half ### the lost season by winning

i do understand the players on the field will still try and win, it is what they do

but the organization should clearly be looking to lose
They may very well be looking to lose, and clearly traded for the future at the expense of this season.

But how much worse does this really make them?

That offense was in the bottom 3rd of the league in every meaningful category last year. They have been even worse than that this year.

24 hours ago, CLE was a team that couldn't run the ball or the throw the ball very well. They won 5 games last year. In those 5 wins, Richardson was the leading rusher on the team in only 3 of them. He rushed for 122, 85, and 72 in those 3 wins.

Anyway, Richardson's a fine back, but I really don't think there's as strong case that losing Richardson dramatically changes the course of this season for CLE. The bigger impact, imo, might be that they failed to put any depth getting touches behind their bell cow (a mistake that bad teams building around a B seem to make more often).
you think the switch from TRich to McGahee does not downgrade them? I disagree with that,
That's not what I said or what I think.

Just that, for a terrible offensive team that can't run the ball anyway, downgrading their RB probably may not dramatically change their season.
i think it doesthis team has nothing, no direction, no talent, nothing

i thought they were better than the jags for sure before, now, not so much

and we'll have to see if the team can hold together, every guy in that locker room knows the organization just gave up on the season.
I won't pretend to know how this plays in the locker room.

But I could see it going different ways.

Maybe they look at it as giving up on the season, who knows.

But there are a lot of locker room positives that could come from this. "Nobody believes in us" can be a very good thing.

Hell, maybe they didn't like fans thinking Trent was the only good player the team. Maybe they even appreciate the organization taking the stance that the team's success isn't tied to one player.

I have no idea, but I think it's premature to assume what the players think and how they'll react.
nobody believed in them beforenow they just know the front office does not believe in them
I suspect the chicken little reactions are almost exclusive to fans, and probably doesn't represent the internal reaction very much.

I doubt the players take it as management not believing in them, and even if they did, it'd be hard to say how negative that would be.

Also, CLE didn't get rid of some veteran team leader that held the locker room together. They got rid of the highly touted 2nd year player that overshadowed them all, and was the only CLE player most fans could even name. It's not hard to see that having a neutral or even positive effect for a lot of players.

 
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So how much does Richardson play this week for the Colts?
this is a great question

unfortunately anyone who has TRich in a 12 team league isn't gonna have better options.

i suspect (hope) they will keep it simple and get him some carries in some dumbed down scheme. he's too good of a player to waste for 4 weeks while he learns every part of the offense.

 
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At this point they should lose every game right?

they clearly punted the season, everyone knows it

why half ### the lost season by winning

i do understand the players on the field will still try and win, it is what they do

but the organization should clearly be looking to lose
They may very well be looking to lose, and clearly traded for the future at the expense of this season.

But how much worse does this really make them?

That offense was in the bottom 3rd of the league in every meaningful category last year. They have been even worse than that this year.

24 hours ago, CLE was a team that couldn't run the ball or the throw the ball very well. They won 5 games last year. In those 5 wins, Richardson was the leading rusher on the team in only 3 of them. He rushed for 122, 85, and 72 in those 3 wins.

Anyway, Richardson's a fine back, but I really don't think there's as strong case that losing Richardson dramatically changes the course of this season for CLE. The bigger impact, imo, might be that they failed to put any depth getting touches behind their bell cow (a mistake that bad teams building around a B seem to make more often).
you think the switch from TRich to McGahee does not downgrade them? I disagree with that,
That's not what I said or what I think.

Just that, for a terrible offensive team that can't run the ball anyway, downgrading their RB probably may not dramatically change their season.
i think it doesthis team has nothing, no direction, no talent, nothing

i thought they were better than the jags for sure before, now, not so much

and we'll have to see if the team can hold together, every guy in that locker room knows the organization just gave up on the season.
I won't pretend to know how this plays in the locker room.

But I could see it going different ways.

Maybe they look at it as giving up on the season, who knows.

But there are a lot of locker room positives that could come from this. "Nobody believes in us" can be a very good thing.

Hell, maybe they didn't like fans thinking Trent was the only good player the team. Maybe they even appreciate the organization taking the stance that the team's success isn't tied to one player.

I have no idea, but I think it's premature to assume what the players think and how they'll react.
nobody believed in them beforenow they just know the front office does not believe in them
I suspect the chicken little reactions are almost exclusive to fans, and probably doesn't represent the internal reaction very much.

I doubt the players take it as management not believing in them, and even if they did, it'd be hard to say how negative that would be.

Also, CLE didn't get rid of some veteran team leader that held the locker room together. They got rid of the highly touted 2nd year player that overshadowed them all, and was the only CLE player most fans could even name. It's not hard to see that having a neutral or even positive effect for a lot of players.
yeah

when you listen to him it sounds like he is the kind of person a locker room would hate

i mean the way he was so gracious to the team, his teamates, the city....

prolly someone they are glad to see go

 
So how much does Richardson play this week for the Colts?
this is a great question

unfortunately anyone who has TRich in a 12 team league isn't gonna have better options.

i suspect (hope) they will keep it simple and get him some carries in some dumbed down scheme. he's too good of a player to waste for 4 weeks while he learns every part of the offense.
I doubt he gets more than 6 touches this week. Next week his load should go up considerably.

 
The real question is, what else does Cleveland have to trade away to snatch Teddy Bridgewater from the Jags?

Maybe could deal Josh Gordon for a 2nd or 3rd.

Joe Haden should go easily for a mid round pick.

If they can dump D'Qwell Jackson and Paul Kruger for some minor leaguers, maybe AA ball, then I think they're in business.
Joe Thomas to DEN for a 2014 1st rounder.

Your move Jacksonville.

 
Chuck Pagano "hell be ready to roll" not brought in to be the waterboy (on nfl network)

 
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Chuck Pagano "hell be ready to roll" not brought in to be the waterboy (on nfl network)
That sounds pretty good to me...I'm waiting to hear more on how much they plan to play him before I put him in this week. Having Luck also puts me in a tight spot for now....SF is going to be hostile after their beatdown.

 
Coach Chuck Pagano said that newly acquired Trent Richardson will play in Sunday's game at San Francisco.

-Rotoworld

 
Just from looking soley at the #'s---Do people believe that McGahee CAN'T replicate those #'s this year?
Other GM's must think he can't since he has been sitting around eating :popcorn: waiting for the phone to ring..

Definitely will be a wait and see.. But if they decide to go with Hoyer at QB I think he better get as much upfront money as he can.
Or opther GM's already have their RB's?

The trade is more of a wait and see for me but the #'s from Trent so far seem doable for McGahee this season

 
I haven't seen this mentioned yet, so forgive me if I missed it. This thread got very big very quickly.

But did anyone else hear Mike Lombardi's frequent appearances on the BS Report podcast with Bill Simmons? Something he always talked about was the concept of blue chip players (top 5 at their position) and red chip players (top 10), with both distinctions containing more subjective assessments in order to meet the definition (things like degree of ability to create mismatches, consistency, etc), and how imperative it was to acquire as many of them as possible. He's from the Belichick school. With that in mind, unless his stance has changed, I think it would be very surprising to see him send off a ton of draft choices in order to get a QB.
Bumping my own post since I just saw this linked on Twitter. By Mike Lombardi:

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d82885edd/article/nfl-draft-forecast-chandler-jones-up-courtney-upshaw-down

Here are 10 things that I believe to be true in this week's draft:


1. I believe the safest pick in the draft -- beyond Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III -- is Alabama running back Trent Richardson. He's a blue-chip player and has all the skills to quickly establish himself as a top-five player at his position. Forget the nonsense about not taking backs early -- everyone would love the chance to get this guy.
 
I haven't seen this mentioned yet, so forgive me if I missed it. This thread got very big very quickly.

But did anyone else hear Mike Lombardi's frequent appearances on the BS Report podcast with Bill Simmons? Something he always talked about was the concept of blue chip players (top 5 at their position) and red chip players (top 10), with both distinctions containing more subjective assessments in order to meet the definition (things like degree of ability to create mismatches, consistency, etc), and how imperative it was to acquire as many of them as possible. He's from the Belichick school. With that in mind, unless his stance has changed, I think it would be very surprising to see him send off a ton of draft choices in order to get a QB.
Bumping my own post since I just saw this linked on Twitter. By Mike Lombardi:

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d82885edd/article/nfl-draft-forecast-chandler-jones-up-courtney-upshaw-down

Here are 10 things that I believe to be true in this week's draft:


1. I believe the safest pick in the draft -- beyond Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III -- is Alabama running back Trent Richardson. He's a blue-chip player and has all the skills to quickly establish himself as a top-five player at his position. Forget the nonsense about not taking backs early -- everyone would love the chance to get this guy.
that's kinda crazy

 
Not sure if a link to this article is in this thread or not, but I thought it had some interesting observations about this trade.

Well, I'm certainly not going to doubt Jim Irsay again. When the outspoken Colts owner went on Twitter yesterday and started with his big-news-is-coming tweets, my mind started racing through possible practice squad players and washed-up free agents; after all, the last time Irsay pulled that one out of the playbook, it was for Darrius Heyward-Bey. Instead, as you already know, Irsay might have been underselling the monumental nature of the trade general manager Ryan Grigson had consummated. By sending his 2014 first-round pick to the Browns for Trent Richardson, Grigson locked up his team's running back of the future while recommitting to winning this year.

The Browns? They closed the door on another era of future Browns superstars and began yet another stage in their endless rebuilding project. And yet, I like this trade for Cleveland far more than I do for Indianapolis. It's a virtually unprecedented swap that raises all kinds of questions on both sides, which is … man, I am so excited to talk about this trade. I gotta get started.

I get the feeling that the Trent Richardson trade starts with this play right here:



That's the final meaningful play of Indy's Week 2 loss to the Dolphins at home, a game the Colts were counting on winning before a brutal stretch that sees them play the Seahawks, 49ers, and Broncos within the next five weeks. On that fourth-and-10 play, Dolphins linebacker Philip Wheeler just runs right past overmatched Colts running back Donald Brown (31) for a sack. This comes years after Brown's most famous professional play, the blown protection that inspired Peyton Manning to yell "#######it, Donald!"Not exactly who you want to see protecting your franchise quarterback.

For all the progress they had made up and down the roster over the past two seasons, the Colts were still very limited at halfback, especially after Vick Ballard went down with a season-ending injury after Week 1. Brown is a competent runner who can't pass protect. Ahmad Bradshaw can run and is a very solid pass protector, but his chronically injured foot precludes him from playing significant snaps and from being relied upon to stay healthy as a featured back all season. Richardson gives the Colts the bell-cow back they want to build a balanced offensive attack that creates opportunities in play-action for Andrew Luck. Acquiring him, as the idea goes, makes both their running game (via Richardson) and their pass-protection game (via Bradshaw, in a new, reduced role) better.

It's a deal that furthers Indianapolis's two primary goals. One is to compete with the roster as currently constructed in 2013, an idea that led them to sign a number of veterans in free agency this offseason. The other is to do the best job possible of protecting Luck. In both cases, it's struggling. Indy barely beat the Raiders at home in Week 1 before losing to Miami, and Luck is on pace to be knocked down 112 times, a significant jump from his 83 knockdowns last year, which was in itself significantly higher than anybody else in the league. If Luck ends up getting hit at that rate in 2013, he would be getting hit about twice as frequently as any other NFL quarterback. That's why the Colts invested in tackle Gosder Cherilus and left guard Donald Thomas (who is also out for the year and whose replacement, Hugh Thornton, also got beat on that play above). If Richardson can give Indianapolis a solid ground game, it'll take the pressure off Luck and keep him upright on those plays when he throws.

Although I don't know that extracting value is a particularly pressing concern in Indianapolis, you can certainly make a case that the Colts are acquiring Richardson at exactly the right time. It was only a year and a half ago that Richardson was considered to be the best running back to come out of the college ranks since Adrian Peterson; he was taken third (higher than Peterson, who went seventh) in one of the most talent-rich drafts in recent memory, and while he's suffered through injuries since then, none have been traumatic injuries that would be expected to linger on over the remainder of his pro career. Indianapolis is acquiring a guy who would never have fallen out of the top five just a year ago for a pick that will almost surely not fall into the top five in 2014. That's the definition of buying low.

The Colts are also getting Richardson at a greatly reduced price. While they do miss out on one year of a cost-controlled Richardson by trading for him during his sophomore season, they're not forced to repay any of Richardson's already paid $13.3 million signing bonus to the Browns, who will see the remaining unassigned (in terms of the salary cap) $10.1 million of that bonus accelerate onto their cap in 2013 ($3.5 million) and 2014 ($6.7 million). Instead, the Colts basically have Richardson signed to a guaranteed three-year deal for an average of about $2.2 million per season. If Richardson succeeds in his new digs, the Colts will get a franchise running back at less than half of his original price and at pennies of his true market value.

This does continue an interesting trend for Grigson. In the past, I've written about how elite general managers like Ted Thompson tend to horde draft picks during the initial thrust of their rebuilding efforts, in the hopes of using their knowledge to find talented young players who fit their team's systems. Grigson, to the contrary, has been happy to shed picks to acquire the players he wants. He traded up with the Niners in the 2012 draft to pick T.Y. Hilton in the third round, has already dealt a 2014 fourth-rounder for a 2013 fifth-rounder, and has given up draft picks to acquire veterans like Vontae Davis (acquired for a second-round pick), Winston Justice (sixth-rounder), Drew Stanton (sixth-rounder), Cam Johnson (seventh-rounder), and Josh Gordy (undisclosed). He spent a lot of money this offseason on players with pretty noticeable flaws, too. While most young general managers obsess over building through the draft, Grigson is trading his draft picks away and going after veterans to fill the back half of his roster. It doesn't seem like the best organizational philosophy, but having won General Manager of the Year in 2012, Grigson also probably deserves the time to let these moves play out before they're judged.

So, if it's such an obvious move for the Colts to make, why would the Browns make this deal?

The Browns Are Moving on … AgainTo the current front office of the Cleveland Browns, Richardson's status as a former third overall pick was — and should have been — an irrelevant piece of trivia. Richardson was drafted in April 2012 by the now-departed Mike Holmgren regime, which was swept out of town this past offseason. Former Eagles CEO Joe Banner brought in Rob Chudzinski to coach the team and former Raiders personnel executive (as well as former NFL Network analyst and, yes, frequent guest on the B.S. Report) Mike Lombardi to run the personnel department as general manager. It seemed likely that the team would re-evaluate some of the decisions made by the previous administration, but nobody expected the franchise to move on from Richardson this quickly.

They shouldn't have expected it, because I'm not sure it's ever happened before. I can't find a player who was drafted in the top five by an NFL team who was traded away this quickly (holdouts and gambling addictions aside). The closest example goes all the way back to 1970, when the Boston Patriots drafted defensive lineman Phil Olsen fourth, saw him miss his entire rookie season with an injury, and then traded him to the Rams before his second season began. Richardson didn't have anywhere near as severe of an injury, which suggests that the Browns are dealing him because they don't think his likely output is worth more than a first-rounder.

Why would the Browns sour so quickly on Richardson and make this deal? I can think of five reasons, some, all, or none of which might actually matter:

• Richardson wasn't producing like the guy they drafted. Peterson averaged 5.6 yards per carry as a rookie before averaging 4.8 yards per carry during his first four years as the full-time starter. Richardson stepped straight into the muck from day one, but he was hardly as effective, averaging just a lowly 3.5 yards per attempt over his first 298 professional carries. Chase Stuart has written in the past about how Richardson's yards-per-carry figure isn't as meaningful as it might seem, but it's hard to turn 3.5 yards per attempt into something beautiful.

The issue for Richardson, truthfully, has been breaking big plays. As I wrote over the summer, Richardson has been horrifically unable to generate big plays with his legs so far as a pro. Just 0.7 percent of his carries last year went for 20 yards or more, the fifth-lowest rate among running backs with 200 single-season carries or more over the past five years. That's likely to bounce back a bit in 2013, but it hasn't happened yet through two games; Richardson's longest carry of the year so far went for 10 yards.

There were concerns raised about Richardson's fit within Chudzinski's new scheme when the deal was made, but I'm skeptical of those; Richardson's size, speed, and talent should allow him to fit into any offensive system or scheme. Those reports were denied later in the evening per a Jason La Canfora report, with the Browns instead making the deal because of concerns about Richardson's upside and the value proposition of Richardson versus the pick they're acquiring. And to that…:

• This trade might be the last chance they have to get a significant return on Richardson. Let's say the Browns front office sees Richardson as a decent-but-inessential player, a back capable of producing league-average work if things go well. If that's the case, the Browns would want to trade Richardson while his stock is still as high as possible, in order to extract the greatest possible return. Cleveland's not selling high on Richardson in terms of how his value has dropped since he was drafted in 2012, but if it thinks Richardson's going to average four yards per carry and struggle to break big plays, it's getting a first-round pick for a player who would probably be worth a fifth-rounder, given his guaranteed salary.

If it waited to trade Richardson after the season and he continued to struggle in the way that he has so far in his career, the Browns would have found it close to impossible to acquire a first-round pick in return. They would have likely settled for a second-rounder and another conditional mid-round pick. This might have been their last chance to get a first-rounder back. And there aren't many teams who are so desperate for help at running back that they'll deal a first-round pick for a player in midseason, so the Colts were Cleveland's last hope.

• Running back is a fungible position. To be quite blunt, the Browns could have signed just about any college free agent off the street and gotten the 3.5 yards per carry Richardson's produced so far as a pro. Even if Richardson raises his game a bit in Indianapolis, there's been nothing about his level of play that the Browns couldn't get from a cheap platoon of backs. They're already bringing in Willis McGahee for a physical on Thursday; McGahee isn't a star, but he's a player who can produce reliably as a running back without making a lot of money. The Browns would probably pay McGahee about what Richardson will make this year without any long-term commitment, and they get the added bonus of acquiring an extremely valuable first-round pick in what could be a stacked draft.

• They get another asset for next year's draft. Cleveland already insinuated it would be playing for 2014 earlier Wednesday, when it announced it would start Brian Hoyer over Jason Campbell as a temporary replacement for the ailing Brandon Weeden. Playing a journeyman backup? Trading away your best offensive weapon? These sound like tanking strategies.

It's unclear where the Indy first-round pick will end up. I'm notably sour onIndianapolis's chances of repeating its 11-5 mark from a year ago, and while it hasn't looked great through a 1-1 start, the Colts aren't going to finish in the top eight of the draft or anything. Instead, they're likely to finish with a record that would put the pick somewhere in the middle of the draft, with a quick poll of folks around the league producing a guesstimate of the 15th pick. The move will also hurt Cleveland's chances of competing this season, which would help its original first-rounder rise toward the top of the draft. Let's say it finishes as the fourth-worst team. That would leave the Browns with the fourth pick, the 15th pick, and the 36th selection in the 2014 draft, along with extra picks in the third and fourth rounds. If they wanted to move up to grab Teddy Bridgewater at no. 2, they could build a very serious trade package around those draft assets. (They could also opt for a lesser quarterback with one of those picks.) In that sense, this fits very well with Cleveland's primary goal as an organization right now: build a competitive defense while attempting to identify and acquire a young franchise quarterback.

What really sticks with me, though, is …

• The Browns might know something we (and the Colts) don't about Richardson. The nature of how aggressive the Browns are being here with a top-three draft pick suggests that there's something very distinct about Richardson that this new regime doesn't like. It could be some aspect of his personality off the field or his work ethic. I don't like to make those sort of insinuations, nor do I think that it's a problem for Richardson, but a vague quote from a Browns player after the deal suggested otherwise: "It makes sense. Trent has some things he needs to figure out before he becomes a dominant player in the league." The issue could just as easily be medical, considering how frequently and how easily Richardson's been banged up during his pro career. In any case, it seems likely that there's a little more than meets the eye here.

Regardless of the logic in making the move, I do feel a good amount of sympathy for Browns fans, who are realizing that they're about to endure yet another offensive revamp of their skill-position players. They appear to have keepers at receiver and tight end with Josh Gordon and Jordan Cameron, but their problems at quarterback and running back remain. Cleveland fans are stuck dealing with yet another rebuild of key components, led by a new coach and general manager. You could forgive them for being skeptical and sick of the changes; after all, each new front office ships out the players who were previously supposed to be the core members of the next great Browns team by the last deposed coach and general manager. Browns fans are going to boo this team unmercifully during the remainder of the 2013 season.

One suggestion for this virtually unprecedented move that would score PR points with the local fan base: jersey amnesty. If you bought a Richardson jersey over the past 16 months, you should be able to either return it to the club store for a new jersey or just get a refund altogether. Nobody should have to keep a jersey for a guy they're expecting to stick around for five years who instead has disappeared from the scene after 16 months. That's just not fair.

So why does it work for the Browns? I see a few reasons.

Score It for ClevelandFor one, the Colts are giving up an enormous asset — their first-round pick in a stacked draft — for a player at the league's most fungible position. It's entirely possible that Indy could have dipped into the free-agent pool for McGahee and got similar (if not superior) production without giving away a pick at all, or they could have dealt a lower pick in the draft for a player like Maurice Jones-Drew, who could have been dragged away from the Jaguars for something like a third-rounder. (MJD is admittedly a little injured at the moment.)

The trade also might not necessarily aid Indianapolis's chances of competing this season. Even if Richardson shows more burst and gets more plays to the second level playing with his new team, the former Bama star still has to learn a new playbook on the fly, which is something normally installed over the course of several months in the offseason. His presence on the field might be a tell, especially at first, that the Colts are going to give Richardson the ball. And if he gets on the field and blows a pass block because he didn't know the play or his responsibilities, well, that could be the end of Luck's season.

And, furthermore, I think there's very likely something about Richardson that isn't publicly obvious that would make the Browns hesitant to rely on him over the long term. (I think it's less likely to be something sinister than it is to simply be that they think Richardson takes too many hits.) The Browns are likely better off with the first-round draft pick than they are with their former halfback.

Also, to be clear, since I've read it in a bunch of places: Suggesting the Browns are somehow doomed to fail on this deal because they've made bad draft picks after acquiring selections in the past is very, very simplistic. For one, it's an entirely different set of personnel people in the front office; suggesting the Browns will fail because they drafted Brady Quinn a few years ago doesn't really fly in terms of logic. I'm not saying the people in the front office are guaranteed to find a bunch of great players with their draft pick(s), but I also don't think it's fair to slag off Joe Banner because the Browns drafted Tommy Vardell in the 1992 draft.

But wait — what about Pittsburgh? Well, I highlighted the Steelers' long run of success before this year as a possible indicator of their pending success (so far, oops) and chalked it up to their consistent coaching and elite drafting and development on a year-after-year basis. It has nothing to do with their mystique or aura, and everything to do with their history of developing young talent into valuable assets. They're still applying some of the same principles and concepts they learned all those years ago today. Cleveland, for better or worse, has no such track record. That it traded for draft picks in the past and didn't get a lot out of them means absolutely nothing with regard to this deal.

I think it's more likely that the Browns are happy about this trade five years from now than the Colts are, although I don't think it's a slam dunk in either direction. It tells us interesting things about where each organization is going over the next several seasons, provides a perhaps-needed change of scenery for a football player who was expected to be dominant, and it gives us a trade situation that we've never seen before. Not bad for a Wednesday night, Mr. Irsay.
http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-triangle/post/_/id/75160/the-browns-hit-reset-again-with-an-unprecedented-trade

 
Schefter tweet:

Trent Richardson joins DL John Matuszak as only players since NFL merger to be drafted Top-3, then play for another team the following year.

 
Coach Chuck Pagano said that newly acquired Trent Richardson will play in Sunday's game at San Francisco.
When asked how much Richardson will play in Week 3, Pagano said, "As much as he can handle." The Colts didn't give up a first-round pick to let Richardson idle behind Ahmad Bradshaw. The playbook at the running back position is among the easiest to pick up, meaning T-Rich could see the majority of early-down work right away. He does have a brutal matchup, but he's still on the flex radar. "This guy is a rolling ball of butcher knives," Pagano said of Richardson. "He fits our scheme to a T."

Either Pagano is really trying to make the front office look smart, or Christmas just came early. Lynch tore the Niners the #### up. I think T-Rich is a good play this weekend. Talk about running angry, I can not imagine how much he wants to prove to the Browns and the world that they just lost an elite player.

Also, I have never heard anyone described as a rolling ball of butcher knives. That's just nasty.
 
Coach Chuck Pagano said that newly acquired Trent Richardson will play in Sunday's game at San Francisco.

-Rotoworld
Thanks Rotoworld. Lol. It was on live espn and NFLN. Glad Rotoworld is up on this.
You're a pretty angry guy
And you reached this conclusion how? Based on your comment I'd venture you're a pretty "special".
You complained about Rotoworld posting what is obviously fantasy-relevant news because it happened to be on ESPN and NFLN. You do get that some fantasy owners might not have been sitting around watching those networks on a Thursday afternoon, don't you?

 
Not sure if a link to this article is in this thread or not, but I thought it had some interesting observations about this trade.

• This trade might be the last chance they have to get a significant return on Richardson. Let's say the Browns front office sees Richardson as a decent-but-inessential player, a back capable of producing league-average work if things go well. If that's the case, the Browns would want to trade Richardson while his stock is still as high as possible, in order to extract the greatest possible return. Cleveland's not selling high on Richardson in terms of how his value has dropped since he was drafted in 2012, but if it thinks Richardson's going to average four yards per carry and struggle to break big plays, it's getting a first-round pick for a player who would probably be worth a fifth-rounder, given his guaranteed salary.

If it waited to trade Richardson after the season and he continued to struggle in the way that he has so far in his career, the Browns would have found it close to impossible to acquire a first-round pick in return. They would have likely settled for a second-rounder and another conditional mid-round pick. This might have been their last chance to get a first-rounder back. And there aren't many teams who are so desperate for help at running back that they'll deal a first-round pick for a player in midseason, so the Colts were Cleveland's last hope.
http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-triangle/post/_/id/75160/the-browns-hit-reset-again-with-an-unprecedented-trade
That's a great point.

I think it's a big surprise that a 1st round pick was ever offered for Richardson, but it seems like a real good chance that the opportunity to get a 1st round pick for him might've dried up in a matter of weeks. With another full season running behind the Browns OL with mediocre results, it likely would've been impossible to get that kind of return.

 
Coach Chuck Pagano said that newly acquired Trent Richardson will play in Sunday's game at San Francisco.

When asked how much Richardson will play in Week 3, Pagano said, "As much as he can handle." The Colts didn't give up a first-round pick to let Richardson idle behind Ahmad Bradshaw. The playbook at the running back position is among the easiest to pick up, meaning T-Rich could see the majority of early-down work right away. He does have a brutal matchup, but he's still on the flex radar. "This guy is a rolling ball of butcher knives," Pagano said of Richardson. "He fits our scheme to a T."

Either Pagano is really trying to make the front office look smart, or Christmas just came early. Lynch tore the Niners the #### up. I think T-Rich is a good play this weekend. Talk about running angry, I can not imagine how much he wants to prove to the Browns and the world that they just lost an elite player.

Also, I have never heard anyone described as a rolling ball of butcher knives. That's just nasty.
Trent "The Butcher" Richardson. I like it.

 
Instead, the Colts basically have Richardson signed to a guaranteed three-year deal for an average of about $2.2 million per season.
This to me is the amazing part of the deal. Shonn Greene got 3 years, $10M.

 
cstu said:
Clifford said:
Coach Chuck Pagano said that newly acquired Trent Richardson will play in Sunday's game at San Francisco.

When asked how much Richardson will play in Week 3, Pagano said, "As much as he can handle." The Colts didn't give up a first-round pick to let Richardson idle behind Ahmad Bradshaw. The playbook at the running back position is among the easiest to pick up, meaning T-Rich could see the majority of early-down work right away. He does have a brutal matchup, but he's still on the flex radar. "This guy is a rolling ball of butcher knives," Pagano said of Richardson. "He fits our scheme to a T."

Either Pagano is really trying to make the front office look smart, or Christmas just came early. Lynch tore the Niners the #### up. I think T-Rich is a good play this weekend. Talk about running angry, I can not imagine how much he wants to prove to the Browns and the world that they just lost an elite player.

Also, I have never heard anyone described as a rolling ball of butcher knives. That's just nasty.
Trent "The Butcher" Richardson. I like it.
Been butchering fantasy teams since 2012?

 
cstu said:
Clifford said:
Coach Chuck Pagano said that newly acquired Trent Richardson will play in Sunday's game at San Francisco.

When asked how much Richardson will play in Week 3, Pagano said, "As much as he can handle." The Colts didn't give up a first-round pick to let Richardson idle behind Ahmad Bradshaw. The playbook at the running back position is among the easiest to pick up, meaning T-Rich could see the majority of early-down work right away. He does have a brutal matchup, but he's still on the flex radar. "This guy is a rolling ball of butcher knives," Pagano said of Richardson. "He fits our scheme to a T."

Either Pagano is really trying to make the front office look smart, or Christmas just came early. Lynch tore the Niners the #### up. I think T-Rich is a good play this weekend. Talk about running angry, I can not imagine how much he wants to prove to the Browns and the world that they just lost an elite player.

Also, I have never heard anyone described as a rolling ball of butcher knives. That's just nasty.
Trent "The Butcher" Richardson. I like it.
I wish he was from Bakersfield. That would be ####### awesome.
 
Looks like the Browns started up the trade talks:

"Several league sources" tell the Cleveland Plain Dealer the Browns initiated the trade that sent Trent Richardson to Indianapolis.

As if it wasn't already clear, the Browns' new braintrust wants little to do with what deposed football "czar" Mike Holmgren left behind. Facing an uncertain workload in a tough matchup, Richardson is Rotoworld's No. 15 running back for Week 3. Sep 19 - 4:57 PM
http://www.rotoworld.com/player/nfl/7462/trent-richardson

 

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